Sunday should be a day of rest

Sunday should be a day of rest, and as such we decided to cycle a measly 59 miles on fairly flat terrain.  Setting off in the drizzle at just after 8am from what I think everyone would agree is the best hotel to date on this trip, we managed to actually cycle as a team for the first 10 miles ... even George and Matt hung back to stick with everyone. Then as the sun broke through and the roads opened out, the team spread out.

Before continuing however, its worth paying full credit to our wonderful hotel last night.  You simply couldn't wish for better hospitality.  The rooms were lovely - large baths, heating, comfy beds (and a great hairdryer - spot the girl writing this!)  And the owners were simply fantastic.  They couldn't do enough for us.  They even called the local journalist who rocked up at the hotel 1 hour later to interview Nigel, George and Tony ... 70,000 readership and we'll be headline news next week!

Something odd happened today though setting seven of the nine cyclists slightly off kilter.  Instead of chasing the yellow and black coats of George and Matt, we found ourselves cycling further ahead losing sight of them in our mirrors even.  

15 miles in, just past the town of Givry, the team arrived at the 500 mile marker!!!!!  Officially half way! 

500 mile mark

After the obligatory photos, we set off, with the plan to stop five miles further down the road for our normal 20 mile break.  Nigel, however, had other plans completely bypassing the 20 mile mark and heading off on his own.  The rest of the team stopped and enjoyed the usual tea, coffee, jelly beans and pain au chocolat. 

Now, twenty minutes ahead of the rest of the team, Nigel lived a life long ambition and took a quick detour to visit the village of his favourite wine ... Chardonnay.

Around 12.30pm the team, well most of the team, met at a small picnic area for lunch.  Shaun cooked a treat of potatoes and baked beans and the team (again most of us) tucked in.  Half an hour into lunch and still George and Matt (our usual front runners) were nowhere to be seen.  

Turns out they had taken a slight detour themselves, visiting a local vineyard and picking up a few bottles to help them along the way.  

Check out the water bottle!!

Then, whilst Matt attempted to practice what he calls his 'flicking technique', he inadvertently crashed into George wiping them both out.  I think the next photo says it all!

 

They finally arrived at lunch 45 minutes after the rest of the team.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by.  The team seem to have established some good cycling partnerships ... 

Ally and Antonio join forces to maintain a steady pace

Ren and Tony team up to form the romantic element of the team

Lisa and Keiron seem to spur each other on, Keiron taking the lead on the downhill, and Lisa catching him up on the uphill

George and Matt form the comedy duo 

And Nigel slots in perfectly amongst each pair, often choosing to cycle off alone to take some incredibly arty photos ... 

Rapeseed fields - truly beautiful

We all arrived at the hotel just after 3pm ... and boy what a hotel.  Just on the outskirts of Macon there is a reason no one else is staying here!  I think we'll actually all be pretty happy to get up and leave tomorrow morning, although that said, tomorrow is by far our toughest day so we'll see!